Painted live model Susan's fashion portrait last week for Week 43 of 52 Live Fashion Stories, which was so much fun!  Love her head full of curls!

Last week's live painting was of model Brittney - already in Week 42 of 52 Live Fashion Stories - with a striking sideways glance.

A week ago I painted live model Jin for Week 41 of my 52 Live Fashion Stories - wondering what thoughts she was lost in ...

If you remember, about a year ago I started a self-imposed practice of painting from live models each week of the year, a year-long process I called 52 Live Fashion Stories, in an effort to allow my painting to evolve over time.  And we are closing in on 52 weeks pretty fast, only a few weeks left! 

Check out my early beginnings here to see the progress ... What a difference a year makes!

It's almost Valentine's Day, and the pink mood continues around here.  I'm so excited to reveal my second collaboration with The Soap Kitchen in Pasadena for this Valentine's Day: 8 card designs!  Check out all 8 of my VDay card designs below, now available at The Soap Kitchen in Old Town Pasadena at 25 N Fair Oaks Ave.  And join me on Instagram @thecristinatudor for my countdown to VDay - only 5 days left! :-)

Dali Yu, the owner of The Soap Kitchen, is an incredibly multi-talented person: not only does she make all the soap and lip balm by hand, from scratch, with love and care, using only natural ingredients, but she also designs all the packaging, the gift baskets and wrapping for everything in her shop!  The soaps and lip balms are so good for you and they look super pretty, they make the best gifts either on their own or as part of a gift basket.  Not sure what to give your Valentine or BFF this year?  Pick up a quick and cute pre-packaged or custom gift basket with yummy bath goodies and one of my Valentine's Day cards to go with it.  Done and done.

The card above was inspired by the joy of spring and Valentine's Day, as all of a sudden I felt like wearing a flowy pink dress and letting a handful of balloons lift me up!  Just what I would wear to a fun Galentine's party!!

Below is a classic XO, in one of my fave color combos: pink and red!

Be mine this Valentine!  A little edge mixed in with a classic heart and red/pink lip.

Love is the word of the day!  For me, the love of pink and red together <3

And even MORE love for these Valentino d'Orsay couture bow pink heels ... all the pink feels for these pumps!! <3  Perfect card for your BFF or Galentine's party favors!

Who will you give your (pink and red) heart to this Valentine's Day??

There's no proper VDay without at least one cupcake, amiright?

Wishing you all a happy Valentine's Day, may you spend it with your loved ones!

XOXO
Cristina

Live model Rachel was my inspiration last week for Week 40 of my 52 Live Fashion Stories.  She looks right through you, with her clear eyes and ethereal gaze ...

Live model Aussie became my inspiration last week for Week 39 of my 52 Live Fashion Stories.  Like a romantic and wistful princess in waiting ...

You guys, your FREE copy of the February Cristina Tudor 2018 fashion illustration calendar is here!  Woohoo!!  Super psyched to be sharing my artwork with you guys as a way to say thank you for your support!   ✨✨🙏

To get your FREE printable copy: click on the 'Subcribe Here' button at the top of my blog.  That's it! 

After you sign up, you will automatically receive a printable calendar in your inbox each month this year.  YAY!!  Each month of the calendar will feature one of my original watercolor illustrations. The calendar is 8.5” x 11” and can be printed in color or black and white.

Here's a sneak peak at the month of February, Valentine Girl, in all its pink-ness, which is where my brain is as soon as we start to get even close to V-Day lol:

And a little behind the scenes of how I created the heart pendant Valentine Girl is holding (you can find more videos like these of my artwork process on Instagram @thecristinatudor):

So where do you live? Where is my calendar traveling to all the way from Los Angeles?? Tag your pics of the calendar with #ctudorcalendar on Instagram and on Pinterest so I can see where in the world you guys are, it would be super cool seeing where my calendar ends up 🌎

@madisonrylie here in LA already got her copy of the February calendar today, and she's using it on her computer as wallpaper!  Brilliant!  So happy you love your calendar, Madison! <3

Can't wait to hear from you, too!

And feel free to spread the word with friends and family so they can get their free calendars, too, just send them to my website cristinatudor.com

Happy (early) Valentine's Day!
xo
Cristina


ps Please be mindful: the calendar artwork is copyrighted ©cristinatudor.com The calendar is for your personal use only, cannot be duplicated or redistributed, and it is not for resale.  Thank you for respecting copyrights and supporting creativity  🙏